Sticks and Stones Didn’t Break Their Bones

The advocates of Votes for Women were criticized, called all sorts of names, attacked by onlookers when they marched in parades. They persisted, even when some of their friends suggested that picketing the White House and Congress might be ill advised. Although my grandmother Edna didn’t go to jail (she would have, if not for her fragile health), she supported those who went to jail, stood their ground and suffered the consequences because they believed that they couldn’t count on President Woodrow Wilson to rally the necessary political support for a constitutional amendment. At times they were down to requiring only one or two votes to move the amendment to the next stage of passage. Mary Nolan was the oldest picket at the White House who at age 75, hailed from Florida. She said during her trial: “I am guilty if there is any guilt in the demand for freedom.”

Important Dates to Celebrate This Month:

February 4, 1913 – Birth day for Rosa Parks, the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”

February 12, 1912 – Juliette Gordon Low established the American Girl Guides, forerunner of the Girl Scouts of America

February 15, 1820 – Susan B. Anthony’s birthday

February 27, 1922 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote